Cleveland might be the biggest city on Lake Erie, but it ranks behind Port Clinton and Toledo in the number of Lake Erie-destined boats registered in its corporate limits. Port Clinton has 2,234 boats, roughly one for every two residents. Cleveland has 1,977, which means .005 percent of the population owns a boat. Across Cuyahoga…

Cuyahoga County has more boat registrations than any other county in Ohio. But it ranks second to last for boats per 1,000 residents. Only Franklin County, landlocked in the middle of the state, fares worse. No. 1 for boat ownership, based on population? No surprise here. It’s Ottawa County, home to the summertime playground of…

Just bought a boat? Or just traded up? Want some help learning to dock it, or reverse, or figure out the fancy gadgets? The North Coast Sail & Power Squadron is offering a free two-hour class in boat basics, on your own boat. The Jump Start Program is new this year. The goal for the…

Enjoy 10 days of sailboat races at Cleveland Race Week, the largest sailing regatta on Lake Erie and one of the largest in the country. The 38th annual event attracts more than 300 boats from across the United States, Canada and internationally. Events Include: One Design Weekend Women’s and Double Handed Junior Day Remote Control…

It’s summer boating season! And the Lake Carriers Association — the Rocky River-based trade group that represents U.S. freighters on the Great Lakes — wants to keep all vessels safe on the water. “If everybody follows the rules of the road, if you have good seamanship, we ought to have a safe summer,” Lake Carriers…

Is the Norfolk Southern bridge over the Cuyahoga River up or down? Check the live feed on the new Music Box Supper Club bridge cam. RocktheLake mounted a security camera on the patio at Music Box in the West Bank of the Flats. And we pointed the camera at the railroad bridge that separates Lake…

So you want to boat from the United States to Canada? There’s no markers separating Canadian waters from American in Lake Erie. You can cross the invisible boundary line on your boat, no problem. But you must report to customs when you dock or drop anchor in the waters of the other country. (I once…

We’ve got three weeks until the unofficial start of summer Memorial Day weekend. And thanks to a miserably chilly March and April, marinas on Ohio’s lakeshore are about three weeks behind. “It’s so late,” said Tom Gavel, owner of Tag Marine Services at Whiskey Island Marina. “For the last month it’s like you’ve been shaking…

Boatyards, backyards, marinas and yacht clubs will soon spring to life to prepare for the 2018 boating season. Fishing charter boats are putting in the water as soon as Easter weekend. Recreational boaters have dates to launch any time between mid-April and late May. But first owners have to cut the shrink wrap off their…